Tattooed in the Philippines

Body tattoo have now creeps into the fashion world of Philippine fashion industry wherein Filipino me and women avails to put a customized design tattoo on the parts of their body they wish to mark with tattoo. However, before modern day tattoo craze hit the modern Philippines, there already exist pre-Hispanic body arts in the Philippines similar to body tattoos. These pre-Hispanic Filipinos were called “Pintados”. Their bodies were tattooed with indigenous arts similar to tattoo arts today but with minor different variations only.

Pintados Festival

And this pre-Hispanic Filipino art is coming back with a mixture of modern designs and modern tattoo paraphernalia. Filipino men are the most in to this art trend wherein they mostly love to put tattoos on their biceps, triceps, hands and shoulders, while Filipino women loves to have their tattoos on their lower backs or under their belly button or sometimes on the ankles of their foot.

Even Filipino children were hook by this body tattoo trend; they too have tattoos on the parts of their bodies but only fake which came from commercial snacks or junk food products sold on sari-sari stores, as a free items.

Tattoo by Ricky Sta. Ana

However, though some Filipinos love to have tattoo in their bodies, some do not like it and see it as a dirty art and have threat to skin health.